


Refrain

by katharotes



Category: Frozen (2013), Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: F/M, Jelsa - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-19
Updated: 2014-01-19
Packaged: 2018-01-09 06:23:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 4,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1142553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katharotes/pseuds/katharotes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anna's marriage made Elsa lonely again. Jack wanted to cheer her up, but she couldn't see him. When she did though, snowflakes sparked.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this like I was possessed in one whole night. Then I came to AO3, and read so many other beautiful Elsa/Jack fics. No matter. This is my take, and I hope you like it.

The cold never bothered her. Well, most of the time. Tonight was different; she was shivering as she saw the ice that formed on her glass door. _That's strange_ , she thought to herself. _That's not me._

Elsa had learned to control her powers, and she'd be damned if she was shooting out ice while sleeping. Arendelle had not have a blizzard since her coronation years ago, and since then she could touch whatever without coating it in ice anymore — unless she wanted to. Who knew love would be the key?

Still, she couldn't help her loneliness. She was always lonely growing up, but only because she didn't want to hurt Anna. Their reconciliation was brief, and for a while Elsa truly bonded with her sister again. But Anna deserved her happiness, too, and Kristoff was a good man.

_Shit, she's awake._ Jack was usually discreet, but tonight he had woken up Queen Elsa. He watched her anxious face, her hands wrapping the blanket tighter around her body. He grinned. She looked like a worm, all wrapped up like that. A cute worm.

When he heard about the havoc created by Elsa, his first reaction was to laugh. _This lady knew how to have fun_ , he thought.

Except it wasn't fun. It was supposed to be summer in Arendelle, and he watched as Elsa's powers spiraled out of control. He understood immediately. This was way worse than when he created that blizzard that ruined Easter once, and for a different reason altogether.

He tried his magic on her — he wanted her to have fun, to make her realize that her powers were not all bad — but it didn't work. Over time, he became the silent witness to her journey. He tended to his duty as a Guardian, but sometimes he would stop by Arendelle just to see how Elsa was doing. She could control her powers now, but she was still somewhat reserved, made worse by her sister's marriage.

All this while, he was alright with not being seen. But now, he wanted her to believe.


	2. Chapter 2

Kristoff had invited Elsa to watch him and his friends cut ice. Anna would be there too, and he thought it would be nice for the two sisters to catch up. He knew that ever since he married Anna, Elsa was in a bit of a downer, but she was never hostile to him. They were on friendly terms as in-laws.

Chatty Anna cheered Elsa up. Anna let her sister feel her growing stomach, and Elsa smiled as she felt the baby kicking. Due to her reputation, Elsa had not have a suitor. Who the hell wanted to marry a snow queen?

“I'll be fine. Really,” she reassured her younger sister.

Anna nodded her head slightly. Elsa was resigned to the possible fate of spending the rest of her life alone. Not everyone was as lucky as Anna. Kristoff might not be a king, but he was _her_ king, alright.

“Well, a couple of weeks ago, there was ice on my door,” Elsa said.

“Is your power getting stronger?” asked Anna.

“I'm sure it's not me.”

“Maybe it was just a cold night?”

“Hmmph...”

“Just... don't think too much about it, ok?” Anna said softly.

Elsa looked away to the men cutting ice. Kristoff waved to the sisters, and she waved back meekly.

She had destroyed her ice palace once she returned to Arendelle, but once in a while she felt like she could use the refuge. She made a detour on her way back to the castle. She missed the trolls suddenly.

Shortly after reconciliating with Anna, Kristoff brought them to visit the trolls. They still remembered her from childhood, that fateful night when she struck Anna and her parents brought them to the trolls for the younger one to be healed. They took to her immediately, her guidance when she doubted herself.

“Hi, everyone,” Elsa said to the surrounding stones.

The stones shook and rolled to her. “Elsa!” the trolls exclaimed. “What brings you here?”

“I missed you guys,” she smiled as she said that. Growing up in a self-imposed seclusion, it's not like she had a lot of friends, and she appreciated whatever relationship she could strike up with others — humans and non-humans alike.

She told Bulda about catching up with her pregnant sister today and casually, she mentioned waking up one night to a sudden cold and ice on her door.

Bulda exchanged looks with another female troll. “Elsa dear, have you heard of Jack Frost?”

“No... who's that?” she asked. The trolls began to be animated, as if they weren't already.

“He's the winter spirit, my child. He conjures ice and snow like you do, but he does it for... fun.”

It took a while for this to click in Elsa's head. “You mean... there's someone like me? Are you saying that he's the one who put the ice on my glass door?”

“You have to believe, only then you will see.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Your Majesty,” her citizens greeted her as she strolled around the town square one afternoon.

She found Olaf after a while. He started to chat after she approached him, yet stopped when he realized she had not talked at all.

“Elsa, what's wrong?” he asked her.

“Olaf,” she said. “Is Jack Frost real?” She had been thinking about him since her meeting with the trolls.

“Jack Frost? Who is that?” he replied.

Well, of course the snowman did not know. Olaf was Elsa's creation; whatever he knew was from her own knowledge, and she did not exactly impart all of it to him.

“Never mind,” she said to him.

“Aww... Elsa. Don't be like that. I'd like to hear about this Jack Frost.”

She sighed, and proceeded to tell Olaf about the man who could conjure ice and snow. Purportedly.

“Well, Elsa. If I were you I'd love to meet him,” Olaf said.

“But why? I don't think he's real.”

“He sounds like your equal! And you _created_ me! It would take just a little bit more to believe in him, don't you think?”

Oh boy, it really was hard convincing the Snow Queen. Not that Jack had not tried. Some of the children in Arendelle had seen him, and word had been going around. Still, Elsa had not heard of him altogether before this.

Jack nipped at Olaf's carrot nose. He was not sure whether Olaf could feel it, seeing that the latter was not human and everything; but when Olaf's eyes lit up, Jack knew that the snowman had started believing.

“It's him! I could see him!” Olaf exclaimed animatedly, pointing at Jack.

Elsa turned around. She saw nothing, but she did feel cold again. And then she was struck by a snowball. “Olaf, don't do that!”

“It's not me, it's him! I swear!”

Jack laughed. “I guess she still doesn't believe, huh?” he said to Olaf.

Whatever they had talked about had disappeared from her head by now. She could not believe she had tried to confide in a snowman.

By the time Elsa arrived at her castle, all of the children in the town square were involved in a snow fight.


	4. Chapter 4

That night she felt the sudden gust of cold again. She had all but remembered the tale by then, so it took a while for her to rationalize. The moon was so bright that she could see ice on her balcony, and it was moving to the glass door...

She prepared herself for a fight. She could feel the power in her hands as she balled them into fists. She shot at the ice, shattering the door.

“Come out!” she shouted. “Don't be a coward! Show yourself!”

“How could I when you don't believe in me?” Jack said, though he knew she could not hear him. He wanted her to see him so badly, too.

She continued shooting out icicles at the moving ice, but it evaded her at every turn. Her power didn't hurt him, but he could see that she was falling apart, and he felt bad for her.

Snow trickled softly from the ceiling, and Elsa slumped to the ground. “Please... I'm not going crazy, am I? I didn't make this snow!”

She recalled Olaf claiming to have seen Jack Frost in the town square. That snowball that struck her out of nowhere. She closed her eyes and this time, she tried to believe. _Please, if you are real, show yourself to me. Jack Frost. I want to see you._

Gradually, a young man appeared in her room. He had a wooden staff in one hand, and he knelt before her.

“It's really me. You're not going crazy,” he said to her in a gentle, deep voice.

She held out her hand to touch his face. He was real, alright. “I thought I was going nuts again,” she said to him, almost whispering.

“I'm sorry for making you feel bad,” he replied. He took her hand and, instinctively, both tried to see what would happen if they tried their powers together. Snowflakes sparked from between their palms. It was beautiful.

“Why are you here?” she asked as he helped her up.

“You need to rest. I'll come again later, alright? I promise.”

He mended her glass door before he left, and when he did, there was a trail of ice behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

She felt cold. Patterned ice formed on the greenhouse roof. She had not seen him for weeks since she first met him.

She told him to come in, and Jack flew down through the glass roof like it was nothing. Every step he took with his bare feet formed ice on the ground.

They greeted each other cordially. When Jack addressed her with formalities, she told him to just call her Elsa.

She cut a rose before she spoke again. “So... how long have you been stalking me?”

He sighed. He knew she wouldn't take it too kindly. “I've been checking up on you ever since, you know, that winter you created. I was on standby for the worst case scenario.”

Elsa stopped walking. It was the worst case scenario, alright. Anna froze and for a moment, Elsa was sure she would lose her sister. She put the rose into her hair — the blue of the flower matched her eyes.

“If it's been that long... why are you still monitoring me? Why are you here now?” Her tone was cold, almost challenging.

“I... I'd like to see how you're doing sometimes. You're the only one who could do what I do.” He continued, “But of course, I'm not human anymore.”

“Were you?”

“Yes. I had a little sister, just like you do.”

“Are you afraid of me, Jack?”

“No,” he said. “Just fascinated. You winter rivaled mine.”

She took it as a compliment. He recognized her powers and was not intimidated by her. For the first time in her life, she felt normal.

“How did you become... the current you?” she asked further, curious now.

His face immediately turned sad, but still he answered her. “I woke up with these powers. I didn't remember who I was until Tooth told me that my baby teeth held my memories,” he said. “I managed to get them back, and my memories came back to me.”

She looked at him intently and before she could ask him what happened, he replied.

“I fell into an icy lake when I tried to save my sister from falling, too. She survived.”

Silence. He died so his sister could live. An act of true love, just like when Anna sacrificed herself for Elsa. She still felt grateful that her sister became alive again; she would not have forgiven herself otherwise.

They talked further. He told her about his amnesia and how he was made a Guardian against his will at first, and she told him about having to hide her powers for years. Somehow, they both felt relieved from confiding in each other.


	6. Chapter 6

Like her mother, Elsa's niece was a cheery girl. The baby bounced on her lap as Anna cooked in her kitchen, a few feet away from where Elsa was sitting. Even though Anna married a commoner, it did not take much for her to be happy in her new life.

Elsa's thoughts went to the night when she met Jack. As if sensing what she was thinking, her niece suddenly gurgled in baby-talk.

“Aww... she's talking to you, Elsa,” Anna said to her as she stirred the pot.

Elsa entertained the baby for a little while before Anna took her to be breastfed. Kristoff was out working and would be back by night. Elsa watched as her niece was lulled to sleep slowly and Anna finally tucked her into her crib.

“I know you're usually quiet, but this time you're really, awfully quiet. Care telling me what's on your mind?” Anna knew how difficult it was for Elsa to open up. She watched as Elsa bit her lips, hesitating.

“He visited me,” Elsa finally said.

“Who visited you?” Anna asked half-mindlessly.

“Jack Frost.”

“Oh.”

“You believe me?”

“Of course I do! The children around here have been talking about him. Their mothers said it's nonsense, but now you've confirmed it I'd like to meet him myself! What's he like?”

Anna made her smile. “He's kind and he's real,” Elsa said.

“Is he cute?”

“He... he is. He looks human, around my age.”

“Wow, if only you could see what I'm seeing! You're blushing, Elsa!”

Anna laughed as Elsa's face reddened further. Finally, Elsa laughed along with her sister too.


	7. Chapter 7

Jack wasn't sure if he should stop visiting Elsa. She was right — she's a grown woman; she didn't need to be watched. The Man on the Moon only told him to monitor her that one time; the rest of it was him doing it on a whim.

He just wanted to see her more than anything. He found a sense of belonging with Elsa, something only both of them shared in this world. They couldn't hurt each other, as if they were neutralized when they're together.

Tooth must have noticed, because one day she came to him bearing a small golden cylinder. “Go see her, but make sure you return this to me,” she said to him.

Jack wasn't sure how Tooth knew, but he couldn't fly away to Arendelle fast enough. Elsa was practicing her powers on the North Mountain when the hooded figure approached her. She recognized him right away.

“What is this?” she asked as he handed her the cylinder.

“Open it.”

Her baby teeth. She looked up to him and he nodded.

“I'll wait for you by that tree,” he said to her.

She didn't know how she did it, but she saw her childhood memories. Snow fights with Anna. Building Olaf the snowman. Her gentle father and her loving mother. She missed them greatly.

“I thought you gave up on me,” she said as she walked up to him. It had been months after all since she last saw him.

“Never.” There was a lightness in her eyes, he noticed.

She smiled at him for the first time, and he felt something in his heart. He took her hand in his, fingers intertwined. Snowflakes sparked again.

“You know, I loved that ice palace you built,” he said to her. “The marshmallow man, not so much.”

"You saw that?”

He nodded. “And Olaf is funny.”

So Olaf was indeed telling the truth that day in the town square. She gave the cylinder back to him, thanking him for it. “So... what do I do if I want to see you again?”


	8. Chapter 8

She would see him every two weeks or so from then on. Sometimes he would visit her at night and made her laugh with stories from work. Other times they would fly to the North Mountain to have a friendly battle using their powers. 

Some children saw him with her in the town square, and those who did not, he would try to make them believe in him by making it snow — though to no avail, as they thought it was Elsa. But still, he did not stop trying, and whether they believed in him or not, the children had fun.

As much as he was helping Elsa cope with her loneliness, she was helping him, too. Though Jack was the Guardian of Fun, alone, he was almost as reserved as Elsa. Jack missed being human. He could not sleep, but he loved cuddling with her in bed. And he ate when she ate, because it was nice to dine with company even if he had no appetite. When the memories of his family got too much, he talked and joked with Elsa until it was time for him to leave again.

The rest of the Guardians knew what he was up to, but they let him be. After all, they all had the freedom to be based anywhere in the world, and as long as Jack did his duty, no one had any business in his private life. Jack did his job and that was that.

“Jack...”

“Yes?” he answered. They were sitting on her couch and she had her head on his shoulder. He could smell her hair — like roses.

“It's funny, whenever you're around I feel cold. I never feel cold anywhere else. But your touch makes me warm,” she said.

“Really?” He held her tighter. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“I thought it was inappropriate...”

“No, it's not,” he said gently.

They wanted to hold onto this — whatever this was — for as long as they could. Just taking it in each moment at a time. They both knew where this was going though. It was inevitable. 

She told him about her baby niece, and Anna wanting to meet him. He promised he would visit them when he had the chance. But for now... for now they were enjoying each other's warmth.


	9. Chapter 9

Anna noticed her sister's gradual change. Elsa was more open and talkative now. She was glad because she knew Elsa became lonely when she married Kristoff.

“Have you been seeing Jack?” she asked Elsa.

Her sister nodded.

“So you two are going serious, huh?” Anna asked her sister further.

“I don't know. It's not like he's with me everyday, you know?” Elsa continued, “He's immortal, Anna. I'm going to grow old and die while he'll stay young forever.”

“Oh, Elsa,” Anna hugged her sister. “I've been saying this since the beginning, but I'd love to meet him. Please invite him for a visit?”

He had wanted to appear before Anna, but decided not to when he heard Elsa's confession. He never thought his immortality was an issue; she never brought it up with him. Halfway on her way back to the castle, he approached her with a rose he created from ice.

“Did you do something naughty?” she asked jokingly.

He laughed as he shook his head. “No, I just really missed you.”

She wanted to kiss his cheek, but he turned so that she kissed him on the lips instead. “Jack!”

“Now, _that's_ naughty,” he said as he spun her around.

“You're weird today.”

“Am not!”

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

Elsa rolled her eyes. There's no point arguing with Jack when he's playful. But there's something different about him, she sensed. “I went to see my sister today.”

“Oh? How is she? And the baby?”

“Good. She's still asking to see you.”

“Your sister or the baby?” Elsa stared daggers at him and he held his hands up, mocking surrender.

“Jack, be serious. I want to talk to you about something.”

 _Here it comes._ “I'm listening,” he replied.

“We've been seeing each other for quite some time now...” she began.

“Nearly a year.”

“Correct. And I can't be happier, Jack. I really am.” He smiled when she said that. “But I've been thinking about this for a while... I'm not sure whether we'll work out.”

He stopped in his tracks. “Come again?”

“You heard me fine.”

Now he was truly hurt. He wasn't expecting this. “What made you say that?”

“I... I'm human, Jack! I grow old and I'll die while you... I was never scared of dying until I met you.” Tears welled from her eyes as she said this.

“I never thought that's a dealbreaker.”

“Easy for you to say...”

“Hey!” That was the first time he raised his voice at her, and he regretted it immediately.

“I don't know... just, just give me space, Jack. Please?” Elsa didn't know that such glassy blue eyes could turn so dark.

He let go of her hand. “Up to you, Your Majesty.”


	10. Chapter 10

 “You really screwed it up this time, Jack Frost!” Tooth said.

“What? What did I do?” Jack asked back, challenging.

“You shouldn't have left her hanging like that! She thought you broke up with her.”

The Baby Tooths around him chirped loudly at him. He could feel anger and frustration all around.

“She wanted space, alright? So I'm giving her space,” he said.

Tooth ignored him. She was busy giving out instructions to the other Baby Tooths. Unlike the rest of the Guardians, she had no break.

“How come you know so much about my love life, anyway? You're cooped up in this palace 24/7.”

“ _Hah!_ ” Tooth exclaimed. “Funny you should mention the 'L' word when you _never_ even said it to her!”

Jack fell silent. That was true. He was afraid it would drive Elsa away; he didn't want to appear possessive. It was bad enough when she called him out for stalking her.

“And by the way, _Mr Jack Frost_. Just because I have to work all the time doesn't mean I don't keep track of my friends. And I will stop being one unless you stop acting like a child.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“That's not a _threat_. That's a _fact_ ,” Tooth replied. “Now, shoo! I'm working.”

 _I screwed it up again_ , Elsa thought to herself. Maybe it was for the best. Jack was better off with someone who was also immortal. Someone undamaged, unlike Elsa. Perhaps Tooth.

She could not sleep that night, and whatever she touched, it was coated in ice again. This was worse than when Anna got married. She started wearing her old gloves again, even in bed, for fear of freezing her own mattress.

Out of habit, she looked to the balcony. No ice. She decided to stop thinking about Jack altogether. It would be fine in the morning. She would go see her friends. Maybe cry to Anna as she told her sister what had happened, and then let it go. Let it go completely this time.


	11. Chapter 11

She hadn't seen the trolls for a while. When the stones heard her voice, they immediately turned into her troll friends and cheerfully greeted her.

“Elsa, my dear child. Your heart is hurting,” Bulda said to her.

No one could hide anything from the trolls; they knew everything. She felt miserable. She hadn't seen Jack for weeks.

“But he... he is hurting, too,” Grand Pabbie said, coughing as he emerged into her view.

“Grand Pabbie!” she hugged the elderly troll.

“Listen, dear. It is not his fault that he is forever a man-child,” Grand Pabbie coughed as he said this. “Whatever he lacks, he makes up in his feelings for you.”

Elsa wasn't sure what to say to this. She really didn't know what to do. She didn't even know where he lived; all this while, it had been him visiting her in Arendelle.

“I've lost him, haven't I?” she asked them.

“No, you haven't,” Bulda chimed in. “He's on his way here.”

True enough, the sudden cold announced his arrival. The trolls made way for him when he walked to her as if his life depended on his staff.

She hugged him, his body warmer than ever, his smell crisper than fresh snow.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered into her ear. “I wanted to give you space.”

“No, _I'm_ sorry. Jack, I love you.”

Their lips almost touched. He had long waited to hear that from her. “I love you, Elsa.”

She leaned forward to kiss him but was suddenly embarrassed by the trolls' cheer. Sensing that she wanted privacy, he immediately flew her back to her castle.

She didn't protest when he put her up on the railing of her balcony — she felt safe in his arms. Their lips ached for more and when they stopped, both were out of breath. As if that wasn't enough, he started nibbling on the snowy skin of her neck, down to her chest...

“I want to be with you everyday,” he finally said to her. “I'll move here. We can work it out.”

She looked up into his glassy blue eyes. “I want to meet your friends, see where you live. I want you to meet my fam—

He stopped her with another kiss. “Yes, all of that, too.”

She led him to bed and this time, they participated in sweet, unrefrained passion. Outside, it was snow day again, and winter could never have been more beautiful.


End file.
